Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02495639 2006-01-25
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRIGGERING A PROVISIONING EVENT
TECHNICAL FIELD
The technology described in this patent document relates generally to the
field of
provisioning systems. More particularly, the patent document describes a
system and
method for triggering a provisioning event that is particularly well-suited
for triggering
provisioning events in a mobile data service from an external system.
Provisioning is a general term that is commonly used in the field of mobile
communications in reference to the process by which services provided by a
service
provider are managed.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
In accordance with the teachings described herein, systems and methods are
provided for triggering a provisioning event in a service provider using a
provisioning
request message generated by an external system. A provisioning system may be
used
to receive the provisioning request message from the external system and
transmit
information in the provisioning request message to the service provider to
trigger the
provisioning event. The provisioning request message may have a data structure
that
includes a header section and a body section. The body section may contain a
provisioning entity section that includes information identifying an entity to
which the
provisioning event pertains, wherein the provisioning entity section includes
one or more
attributes defined by the external system.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for triggering
a
provisioning event in a service provider network using a provisioning request
message
generated by an external system, comprising a provisioning system operable to
receive
the provisioning request message from the external system and transmit
information in
the provisioning request message to the service provider to trigger the
provisioning event;
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the provisioning request message having a data structure that includes: a
header section;
a body section; and a provisioning entity section contained within the body
section that
includes information identifying an entity to which the provisioning event
pertains, wherein
the provisioning entity section includes one or more attributes defined by the
external
system the provisioning entity section having a hierarchical data structure
including a top-
level provisioning entity section and one or more nested provisioning entity
sections
associated with the top-level provisioning entity section, wherein attributes
of the top-level
provisioning entity section and the nested provisioning entity sections are
defined by the
external system.
In another aspect, there is provided a provisioning data structure stored in a
computer readable medium for use in a system for triggering a provisioning
event in a
service provider, the system including an external system that generates a
provisioning
request message and a provisioning system that receives the provisioning
request
message from the external system and transmits information in the provisioning
request
message to the service provider to trigger the provisioning event, the
provisioning data
structure comprising a header section; a body section; and a provisioning
entity section
contained within the body section that includes information identifying an
entity to which
the provisioning event pertains, wherein the provisioning entity section
includes one or
more attributes defined by the external system and contains one or more
additional
provisioning entity sections that include information identifying one or more
additional
entities to which the provisioning event pertains, and wherein the one or more
additional
provisioning entity sections each include one or more attributes defined by
the external
system.
In another aspect, there is provided a system for triggering a provisioning
event in
a service provider network using a provisioning request message generated by
an
external system, comprising: a provisioning system operable to receive the
provisioning
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request message from the external system and transmit information in the
provisioning
request message to the service provider to trigger the provisioning event; the
provisioning
request message having a data structure that includes: a header section; a
body section;
and a provisioning entity section contained within the body section that
includes
information identifying an entity to which the provisioning event pertains,
wherein the
provisioning entity section includes one or more attributes defined by the
external system,
characterized by the provisioning entity section having a hierarchical data
structure
including a top-level provisioning entity section and one or more nested
provisioning
entity sections associated with the top-level provisioning entity section,
wherein attributes
of the top-level provisioning entity section and the nested provisioning
entity sections are
defined by the external system.
In another aspect, there is provided a provisioning data structure stored in a
computer readable medium for use in a system for triggering a provisioning
event in a
service provider, the system including an external system that generates a
provisioning
request message and a provisioning system that receives the provisioning
request
message from the external system and transmits information in the provisioning
request
message to the service provider to trigger the provisioning event, the
provisioning data
structure comprising: a header section; a body section; and a provisioning
entity section
contained within the body section that includes information identifying an
entity to which
the provisioning event pertains, wherein the provisioning entity section
includes one or
more attributes defined by the external system, characterized in that the
provisional
entity section contains one or more additional provisioning entity sections
that include
information identifying one or more additional entities to which the
provisioning event
pertains, and wherein the one or more additional provisioning entity sections
each include
one or more attributes defined by the external system.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for provisioning a mobile data
service;
Figs. 2 is an entity relationship diagram of an example provisioning request
message format;
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Fig. 3 is an entity relationship diagram of an example provisioning reply
message
format; and
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device that may be used
with a
mobile data service.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
With reference now to the drawing figures, Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an
example
system for provisioning a mobile data service 106. The system includes an
external system
100, a provisioning system 104 and a mobile data service 106. Also illustrated
are a
provisioning request 108 transmitted from the external system 100 to the
provisioning
system 104 and a provisioning' response 110 transmitted from the provisioning
system 104
to the external system 100.
In operation, the provisioning system 104 enables an external system 100 to
trigger
provisioning events for a mobile data service 106. Examples of provisioning
events are
activation of a service, deactivation of a service, suspension of a service,
resumption of a
service, modification of a service profile or service parameters, and
gathering of status
information associated with a service.
The mobile data service 106 includes the various systems and devices used to
provide access to a wireless network from a mobile communication device. The
mobile data
service 106 may, for example, enable a mobile communication device to send and
receive
data, such as electronic mail, over a wireless network. It should be
understood, however,
that other service providers in addition to a mobile_data service 106 may also
be provisioned
using the provisioning system 106.
The external system 100 may be any system or service external to the mobile
data
service 106 that is authorized to trigger provisioning events for the mobile
data service 106.
An example of an external system 100 is a reseller of the mobile data service
106 through
which end-users can purchase contracts enabling them to use the mobile data
service 106.
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In order to trigger provisioning events, the external system 100' sends a
provisioning
request 108 to the provisioning system 104. As noted above, provisioning
events that may
be triggered by a provisioning request 108 include service activation, service
cancellation,
suspension of service, service modification, a service status request, or
others. Upon
receiving the provisioning request 108, the provisioning system 104 triggers
the specified
event in the mobile data service 106. The provisioning system 104 may also
respond to the
external system 100 by sending a provisioning reply 110. The provisioning
reply 110 may,
for example, indicate whether the requested operation succeeded or failed,
specify error and
status information, or include other relevant information.
The provisioning system 104 may communicate with the mobile data service 106
using any supported protocol. For example, protocols supported by the mobile
data service
106 may include Remote Method Invocation (RMI), Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
and
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).
In order to communicate with a plurality of different external systems 100,
the
provisioning system 104 may expose an interface that can be accessed using a
widely
supported and accessible protocol. For example, the provisioning system 104
may include a
Java TM servlet which monitors for provisioning messages 108 on a computer
network using
the Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS).
The provisioning messages 108, 110 may contain complex and diverse request and
response details. For example, a provisioning message 108, 110 may specify a
mobile
communication device for which it is requesting activation on the mobile data
service 106.
Since there are many mobile data services available, and each of these
services typically
has a different system for identifying mobile communication devices, the
format of
provisioning messages 108, 110 should be able to handle these complexities.
Therefore,
provisioning messages 108, 110 may be formatted in such a way that the message
can
express complex provisioning requests and responses, while being easily
constructed and
interpreted by a plurality of different external systems 100. In addition, the
format of a
provisioning message 108, 110 may allow for security credentials to be
exchanged, so that
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the provisioning system 104 may verify the identity of an external system 100
that sends a
provisioning request 108, and so that the external system 100 may verify the
identity of a
provisioning system 104 that sends a provisioning reply 110.
Figs. 2 and 3 are entity relationship diagrams of an example provisioning
request
message format and an example provisioning reply message format, respectively.
The
message format defines the structure of data entities within the provisioning
message. Data
entities are represented in Figs. 2 and 3 within rectangular boxes, and
relationships between
the data entities are represented by lines connecting the rectangular boxes.
On each side of
a connecting line, the cardinality of the relationship is illustrated by a
numeral or set of
numerals (with "N" representing a variable). For example, data entities 200
and 204 (Fig. 2)
are connected by a line having a numeral 1 at each side of the relationship.
This illustrates a
one-to-one relationship between data entities 200 and 204. Data entities 204
and 210,
however, are connected by a line having a numeral 1 on one side of the
relationship and a
set of numerals {1, N} on the other side of the relationship. This illustrates
that data entities
204 and 210 may have either a one-to-one relationship or a one-to-many
relationship.
With reference to Fig. 2, a provisioning request 200 message may include a
transaction identification attribute, which contains a unique transaction
identifier used by the
provisioning system 104 (Fig. 1) to identify a particular transaction. A
transaction consists of
a provisioning request, a resulting provisioning event, and a provisioning
response. The
provisioning request 200 message may also include a version attribute, which
represents the
version of the interface. The provisioning request message 200 may include a
transaction
type attribute, which defines the type of action being requested. As noted
above, the type of
action requested may be to activate, suspend, resume, cancel, modify or obtain
status
information regarding a service. In addition, the provisioning request 200
message may also
include a product type attribute, which specifies the service to which the
provisioning request
pertains, such as a particular mobile data service.
The provisioning request 200 message contains a header section 202 and a body
section 204 section. The header section 202 contains a sender section 206,
which contains
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information relating to the sender of the provisioning message, and a time
stamp section
208, which contains the time that the message was sent. The sender section 206
may
include an identification attribute, which contains a unique identifier for
the sender. The
sender section 206 may also include a name attribute, which contains a unique
name for the
sender.
The sender section 206 contains a login section 212 and a password section
214,
which may be used by the provisioning system 104 (Fig. 1) to authenticate the
identity of the
sender. Authentication prevents unauthorized external systems from
successfully interfacing
with the provisioning system 104 (Fig. 1).
The time stamp section 208 may include a format attribute, which specifies a
date
format for the timestamp, such as that defined by the ISO-8601 standard.
The body section 204 contains one or more provisioning entity sections 210
that may
be defined by the external system. A provisioning entity section 210
identifies an entity to
which the provisioning request applies. A provisioning entity section 210 may
include a
name attribute which contains generic information identifying the entity, such
as information
identifying the entity as a mobile communication device. The provisioning
entity section 210
may also have a type attribute, which contains further information to identify
the entity, such
as the model number for a mobile communication device.
In addition, a provisioning entity section 210 may contain one or more
additional
nested provisioning entity sections 210 to provide for a hierarchical
provisioning entity
structure. For example, an external system may have a subscriber-centric view
of the data
and therefore define a top-level provisioning entity section 210 to represent
a subscriber
object, which may be identified by specific provisioning data items
attributes, such as
MSISDN, IMSI, or others. Specific services and entities (e.g., mobile
communication
devices) may then be represented within the top-level provisioning entity 210
as additional
(i.e., nested) provisioning entity sections 210 for the purposes of
provisioning.
In another example of nested provisional entity sections 210, an external
system may
have a service-centric view of the data and therefore define a top-level
provisioning entity
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section 210 to represent a service, which may be identified by specific
provisioning data
item attributes such as price, service plan type, service number, or others.
Specific
entities (e.g., mobile communication devices) and subscribers may then be
represented
within the top-level provisioning entity as additional (i.e., nested)
provisioning entity
sections. A number of subscribers may then be nested such that each subscriber
represents a separate provisioning transactions within the broader context of
the
provisioning request (e.g., a batch service activation for a plurality of
subscribers).
Each provisioning entity section 210 contains one or more provisioning data
item
sections 216. A provisioning data item 216 section contains information that
identifies a
particular entity to which the provisioning request pertains. Because numerous
types of
entities may be provisioned, a provisioning data item section 216 includes a
name
attribute, which specifies the type of information that is contained in the
section. For
example, the name attribute may specify that the provisioning data item
section 216
contains a Personal Identification Number (PIN), a product identifier, a
billing identifier, an
International Mobile Equipment Identification identifier (IMEI), an electronic
serial number
(ESN), an International Mobile Subscriber Identity identifier (IMSI), a Mobile
Subscriber
Integrated Services Digital Network number (MSISDN), or an Integrated Circuit
Card
Identifier (ICCID). Thus, the message can specify requests to provision
entities on a
plurality of diverse systems that use different schemes for identifying
entities.
Provisioning request messages 200 may, for example, be written in Extensible
Markup Language (XML). XML is a widely supported language that is used to
define the
format of information to be exchanged between different systems and
organizations. The
format of an XML message is defined by a Document Type Definition (DTD). An
example
DTD that may be used to create an XML message that contains a provisioning
request
conforming to the formal illustrated in Fig. 2 is set forth in United States
Patent
Publication No. 2004/0082323.
With reference now to Fig. 3, a provisioning reply message 300 may include the
same attributes described above with reference to the provisioning request
message 200
of
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Fig. 2, such as a transaction. identification attribute, a version attribute,
a transaction type
attribute, and a product type attribute. The provisioning reply message 300
contains a
header section 302 and a body section 304.
The header section 302 contains a time stamp section 308, and may contain a
sender section 306 and a transaction code list section 310. The time stamp
section 308 may
include a format attribute, which specifies a date format for the timestamp,
such as that
defined by the ISO-8601 standard. The sender section 306 may contain login 314
and
password 316 sections, which an external system 100 may use to authenticate a
provisioning system 104 by sending a provisioning reply.
It may, for example, be useful to authenticate a provisioning system 104 when
provisioning messages are sent asynchronously. In asynchronous messaging, a
provisioning reply message is not returned in response to a provisioning
request method.
Instead, an asynchronous messaging system returns an acknowledgement to
indicate that a
message was successfully received. A provisioning reply is not sent until
after the
provisioning request has been processed. Thus, it is useful for the external
system 100 to
verify the identity of the system that has sent the response prior to taking
any action based
on the contents of the provisioning reply.
The transaction code list section 310 section may be used by the provisioning
system
104 to return error information or status information relating to a
provisioning request to the
system that has sent the request. The transaction code list section 310 may
include a major
code attribute, which defines the most severe error returned in the message.
The
transaction code list section 310 may also include a description attribute,
which describes
the error defined by the major code.
The transaction code list section 310 contains one or more transaction code
sections 318. Each transaction code section 318 may contain an error code
section 322, an
error description section 324, a status code section 326 and a status
description section 328.
The error code section 322 specifies an error occurring while the provisioning
system 104
performs the action requested in a provisioning request message. The error
description
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section 324 describes the error specified in the error code 322 section. The
status code
section 326 identifies the status of a provisioning system entity resulting
from the processing
triggered by provisioning request. The status description section 328
describes the status
specified in the status code section 326.
Values for the error code section 322 and the error description section 324,
and for
the major code attribute of the transaction code list section 310, may be
defined by the
provider of the provisioning system 104, and may include the following
examples:
Error Major Error Description
Code Code
0 N/A Success
21020 21000 Service Already Active
21030 21000 Service Not Suspended
21040 21000 Service Deactivated
21050 21000 Service Suspended
21510 21500 No line items found
46010 46000 Insufficient Permission to Request Activation
46020 46000 Insufficient Permission to Request Deactivation/Modification
46030 46000 Insufficient Permission to Request Suspend
46040 46000 Insufficient Permission to Request Resume
61020 61000 Invalid Data: Missing Billing Identifier
61030 61000 Invalid Data: Insufficient Input
61040 61000 Invalid Request: Service Inactive / Service Not Found in Database
61080 61000 Invalid Data: Missing IMSI
61090 61000 Invalid Data: Missing Input Information
61100 61000 Length must satisfy range.
61110 61000 Must belong to set
61120 61000 Must satisfy both length range and content format
61130 61000 Internal Error: Please contact product support
61210 61000 Invalid Data: Requestor Resolved to Other
61220 61000 Invalid Data: Requestor Not Found
61510 61500 System Error: Please try again later
Values for the status code section 326 and the status description section 328
may be
defined by the provider of the provisioning system 104, and may include the
following
examples:
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Status Code Status Description
I Service Deactivated
2 Service Deactivated after Modification
Service Suspended
11 Service Activated
17 Service Activated via Handheld
18 Service Activated via Request
The body section 304 of the provisioning reply 300 contains one or more
provisioning entity sections 312. Each provisioning entity section 312 may
include one or
5 more additional nested provisioning entity sections 312, as described above.
In addition,
each provisioning entity section 312 may contain one or more provisioning data
item
section 320. The body section 304, including the provisioning entity 312 and
provisioning
data item 320 sections, are similar to those described above with reference to
Fig. 2.
In addition, the provisioning entity section 312 in the provisioning reply
message
300 may also contain a transaction code section 318 section, as described
above, which
specifies error or status information related to the provisioning entity
section 312 in which
it is contained.
An example DTD that may be used to create an XML message that contains a
provisioning reply message conforming to the format illustrated in Fig. 3 is
set forth in
United States Published Application No. 2004/0082323. Also included in United
States
Published Application 2004/0082323 are example XML programs to perform
provisioning
transactions that are comprised of a provisioning request and a provisioning
reply,
including transactions to activate a service, cancel a service, suspend a
service, modify a
service, and provide status information for a service.
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device 410 that may be
used
with a mobile data service 106, as described above. That is, the communication
device
410 is an example of a provisioning entity 210 for which a provisioning system
104 may
provision a mobile data service 106 in response to a provisioning request
message 200.
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The mobile communication device 410 includes a transceiver 411, a
microprocessor
438, a display 422, a Flash memory 424, a RAM memory 426, auxiliary
input/output (I/O)
devices 428, a serial port 430, a keyboard 432, a speaker 434, a microphone
436, a short-
range wireless communications sub-system 440, and may also include other
device sub-
systems 442. The transceiver 411 preferably includes transmit and receive
antennas 146,
418, a receiver 412, a transmitter 414, one or more local oscillators 413, and
a digital signal
processor 420. Within the Flash memory 424, the device 410 preferably includes
a plurality
of software modules 424A-424N that can be executed by the microprocessor 438
(and/or the
DSP 420), including a voice communication module 424A, a data communication
module
4246, and a plurality of other operational modules 424N for carrying out a
plurality of other
functions.
The mobile communication device 410 is preferably a two-way communication
device
having. voice and data communication capabilities. That is, the device may
communicate
over a voice network, such as an analog or digital cellular networks, and may
also
communicate over a data network. The voice and data networks are depicted in
Fig. 4 by
the communication tower 419, and may be separate communication networks using
separate infrastructure, such as base stations, network controllers, etc., or
may be integrated
into a single wireless network.
The communication subsystem 411 is used to communicate with the voice and data
network 419, and includes the receiver 412, the transmitter 414, the one or
more local
oscillators 413, and may also include the DSP 420. The DSP 420 is used to send
and
receive signals to and from the transmitter 414 and receiver 412, and is also
utilized to
receive control information from the transmitter 414 and to provide control
information to the
receiver 412. If the voice and data communications occur at a single
frequency, or closely-
spaced set of frequencies, then a single local oscillator 413 may be used in
conjunction with
the transmitter 414 and receiver 412. Alternatively, if different frequencies
are utilized for
voice communications and data communications, then a plurality of local
oscillators 413 can
be used to generate a plurality of frequencies corresponding to the voice and
data networks
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419. It should be understood that although two antennas 416, 418 are depicted
in Fig. 4, the
mobile device 410 could be used with a single antenna structure.
Information, which includes both voice and data information, is communicated
to and
from the communication module 411 via a link between the DSP 420 and the
microprocessor 438. The detailed design of the communication subsystem 411,
such as
frequency band, component selection, power level, etc., may be dependent upon
the
communication network 419 in which the device is intended to operate. For
example, the
device 410 may include a communication subsystem 411 designed to operate with
the
MobitexTM, DataTACTM and/or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) data
communication
networks and may also be designed to operated with any of a variety of voice
communication networks, such as GSM, AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, PCS, etc. Other types
of
data and voice networks, both separate and integrated, may also be utilized
with the mobile
device 410.
Depending upon the type of network 419 (or networks), the access requirements
for
the dual-mode mobile device 410 may also vary. For example, in the Mobitex and
DataTAC
data networks, mobile devices are registered on the network using a unique
identification
number associated with each device. In GPRS data networks, however, network
access is
associated with a subscriber or user of a device 410. A GPRS device typically
requires a
subscriber identity module ("SIM"), which is required in order to operate the
device 410 on a
GPRS network. Local or non-network communication functions (if any) may be
operable,
without the SIM device, but the device 410 will be unable to carry out any
functions involving
communications over the data network 419, other than any legally required
operations, such
as 911 emergency calling.
After any required network registration or activation procedures have been
completed, the mobile communication device 410 may send and receive
communication
signals, including both voice and data signals, over the network 419 (or
networks). Signals
received by the antenna 416 from the communication network 419 are routed to
the receiver
412, which provides signal amplification, frequency down conversion,
filtering, channel
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selection, etc., and may also provide analog to digital conversion. Analog to
digital
conversion of the received signal allows more complex communication functions,
such as
digital demodulation and decoding to be performed using the DSP 420. In a
similar manner,
signals to be transmitted to the network 419 are processed (e.g., modulated
and encoded)
by the DSP 420 and are provided to the transmitter 414 for digital to analog
conversion,
frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission to the
communication
network 419 (or networks) via the antenna 418. It should be understood that
although a
single transceiver 411 is shown in Fig. 4 for both voice and data
communications, the device
410 may include two distinct transceivers -- a first transceiver for
transmitting and receiving
voice signals, and a second transceiver for transmitting and receiving data
signals.
In addition to processing the communication signals, the DSP 420 may also
provide
receiver and transmitter control. For example, the gain levels applied to
communication
signals in the receiver 412 and transmitter 414 may be adaptively controlled
through
automatic gain control algorithms implemented in the DSP 420. Other
transceiver control
algorithms could also be implemented in the DSP 420 to provide more
sophisticated control
of the transceiver 411. .
The microprocessor 438 preferably manages and controls the overall operation
of the
mobile communication device 410. The microprocessor 438 may, for example, be
one of
various types of microprocessors or microcontrollers, or, alternatively, may
be a digital signal
processor DSP 420 or some other type of processing device. Low-level
communication
functions, including data and voice communications, may be performed through
the DSP
420 in the transceiver 411. Other, high-level communication applications, such
as a voice
communication application 424A and a data communication application 424B may
be stored
in the Flash memory 424 for execution by the microprocessor 438. For example,
the voice
communication module 424A may provide a high-level user interface operable to
transmit
and receive voice calls between the mobile communication device 410 and a
plurality of
other voice devices via the network 419. Similarly, the data communication
module 424B
may provide a high-level user interface operable to send and receive data,
such as e-mail
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messages, files, organizer information, short text messages, etc., between the
mobile
communication device 410 and a plurality of other data devices via the network
419. The
microprocessor 438 may also interact with other device subsystems, such as the
display
422, Flash memory 424, random access memory (RAM) 426, auxiliary input/output
(I/O)
subsystems 428, serial port 430, keyboard 432, speaker 434, microphone 436, a
short-range
communications subsystem 440 and any other device subsystems generally
designated as
442.
Some of the subsystems shown in Fig. 4 perform communication-related
functions,
whereas other subsystems may provide "resident" or on-device functions. In
addition, some
subsystems, such as keyboard 432 and display 422 may be used for both
communication-
related functions, such as entering a text message for transmission over a
data
communication network, and device-resident functions such as a calculator or
task list or
other PDA type functions.
Operating system software used by the microprocessor 438 may be stored in a
persistent store such as Flash memory 424. In addition to the operation
system, which
controls low-level functions, the Flash memory 424 may include a plurality of
high-level
software application programs, or modules, such as a voice communication
module 424A, a
data communication module 424B, an organizer module (not shown), or any other
type of
software module 424N. The Flash memory 424 also may include a file system for
storing
data. These modules are executed by the microprocessor 438 and provide a high-
level
interface between a user of the device and the device. The high-level
interface typically
includes a graphical component provided through the display 422, and an
input/output
component provided through the auxiliary I/O 428, keyboard 432, speaker 434,
and
microphone 436. The operating system, specific device applications or modules,
or parts
thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store, such as RAM 426 for
faster
operation. Moreover, received communication signals may also be temporarily
stored to
RAM 426, before permanently writing them to a file system located in the
persistent store
424.
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An exemplary application module 424N that may be loaded onto the mobile
communication device 410 is a personal information manager (PIM) application
providing
PDA functionality, such as calendar events, appointments, and task items. The
application
module 424N may also interact with the voice communication module 424A for
managing
phone calls, voice mails, etc., and may also interact with the data
communication module for
managing e-mail communications and other data transmissions. Alternatively,
all of the
functionality of the voice communication module 424A and the data
communication module
424B may be integrated into the PIM module.
The Flash memory 424 may provide a file system to facilitate storage of PIM
data
items on the device. The PIM application may include the ability to send and
receive data
items, either by itself, or in conjunction with the voice and data
communication modules
424A, 424B, via the wireless network 419. The PIM data items are preferably
seamlessly
integrated, synchronized and updated, via the wireless network 419, with a
corresponding
set of data items stored or associated with a host computer system, thereby
creating a
mirrored system for data items associated with a particular user.
The mobile device 410 may also be manually synchronized with a host system by
placing the device 410 in an interface cradle, which couples the serial port
430 of the mobile
device 410 to the serial port of the host system. The serial port 430 may also
be used to
enable a user to set preferences through an external device or software
application, or to
download other application modules 424N for installation. This wired download
path may be
used to load an encryption key onto the device.
Additional application modules 424N may be loaded onto the mobile
communication
device 410 through the network 419, through an auxiliary I/O subsystem 428,
through the
serial port 430, through the short-range communications subsystem 440, or
through any
other suitable subsystem 442, and installed by a user in the Flash memory 424
or RAM 426.
Such flexibility in application installation increases the functionality of
the device 410 and
may provide enhanced on-device functions, communication-related functions, or
both. For
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example, secure communication applications may enable electronic commerce
functions
and other such financial transactions to be performed using the device 410.
When the mobile communication device 410 is operating in a data communication
mode, a received signal, such as a text message or a web page download, will
be processed
by the transceiver 411 and provided to the microprocessor 438, which will
preferably further
process the received signal for output to the display 422, or, alternatively,
to an auxiliary I/O
device 428. A device user may also compose data items, such as email messages,
using
the keyboard 432, which is preferably a complete alphanumeric keyboard laid
out in the
QWERTY style, although other styles of complete alphanumeric keyboards such as
the
known DVORAK style may also be used. User input to the device 410 is further
enhanced
with a plurality of auxiliary I/O devices 428, which may include a thumbwheel
input device, a
touchpad, a variety of switches, a rocker input switch, etc. The composed data
items input
by the user may then be transmitted over the communication network 419 via the
transceiver
411.
When the mobile communication device 410 is operating in a voice communication
mode, the overall operation of the device 410 is substantially similar to the
data mode,
except that received signals are preferably be output to the speaker 434 and
voice signals
for transmission are generated by a microphone 436. Alternative voice or audio
I/O
subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, may also be
implemented on
the device 410. Although voice or audio signal output is preferably
accomplished primarily
through the speaker 434, the display 422 may also be used to provide an
indication of the
identity of a calling party, the duration of a voice call, or other voice call
related information.
For example, the microprocessor 438, in conjunction with the voice
communication module
and the operating system software, may detect the caller identification
information of an
. incoming voice call and display it on the display 422.
A short-range communications subsystem 440 may also be included in the dual-
mode device 410. For example, the subsystem 440 may include an infrared device
and
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WO 2004/017591 PCT/CA2003/001244
associated circuits and components, or a BluetoothTM short-range wireless
communication
module to provide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and
devices.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including
the best
mode, and also to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the
invention. The
patentable scope of the invention may include other examples that occur to
those skilled in
the art.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
The invention provides a system and method for triggering a provisioning event
that
is particularly well-suited for triggering provisioning events in a mobile
data service from an
external system.
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